Remember to vote for the candidate you want to see in office, not just the lesser of two evils. We shouldn’t make our decision based on what label the candidates have given themselves, but rather the ideals and values they posses. Vote for the candidate who will represent you as accurately as possible. After all, we can only blame ourselves if we keep voting the same idiots into office, year after year.

I will be headed to the booth tomorrow to “throw my vote away” as they say. Robert Sarvis, running as a Libertarian in Virginia, will be getting my vote tomorrow. He is the candidate I want to see in office. I know that voting for a 3rd party almost always leads to nothing, but I’m still hopeful that I’m not the only one. We need a change. Not just in Virginia, but the entire country.

Regardless of where you stand politically, go out and exercise your right to vote!

Today is election day in several states. While the race in NJ doesn’t seem to be that big of a competition with Chris Christie holding a pretty large lead over Barbara Buono in pre-election polls, things in VA are quite different.

It may not be an extremely close race in my home state with the majority of people leaning toward Terry McAuliffe (D) but its close enough that either candidate from the Big Two could win depending on voter turnout. The red candidate, Ken Cuccinelli (R), running as a Tea-Party supporter, is trailing enough that unless his supporters surprise everybody at the polls, he’s unlikely to win.

While I haven’t been of voting age but a few years now, I have to say this was an awful campaign from both parties. There were almost no ads that didn’t attack the other candidate. Very few ads featured a candidate talking about where they stand on the issues facing us right now. Judging by where Libertarian Robert Sarvis stood in the pre-election polls, it would seem Virginians are not happy with either of our red and blue choices.

Robert Sarvis is on the ballots today as a Libertarian. There are many out there who claim he’s not a Libertarian at all or he’s just a dressed up blue guy trying to steal votes away from The Cooch (Cuccinelli). Regardless, Sarvis has gathered quite a bit of support with his very limited resources. Polls were showing Sarvis having between 5 and 10 percent of the vote before election day.

I’m not a fool. I know that Robert Sarvis has no chance of winning the election. I’m pretty sure he knows it too. But the fact that there is a large group of Sarvis-supporters out there show that people might be getting sick of the polarized political system we have right now. I’m one of those people. I voted for Sarvis.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t vote for him simply to show the other candidates that I dislike them tremendously. I also felt like he best represented where I stand personally on political issues. And after all, isn’t that the point of our “democracy”? To vote for people who can represent you the best way possible? It’s not the “vote for the lesser of two evils” system that so many people seem to think it is. If you don’t like Candidate A or B, don’t vote for him. Unfortunately we don’t always get an option for a Candidate C.

A lot of people blame 3rd parties in elections if their guy didn’t win. “McCain only lost because of Gary Johnson!” When The Cooch loses today, Republicans will blame Sarvis and say: “If all of those people had voted for Cuccinelli, he’d have won hands down!” Well, speaking for myself, I would not have voted at all today if Sarvis hadn’t been in the race. I just don’t think I want either of those guys to be His Excellency.

It’s also my opinion that if Sarvis had been allowed to debate with the other guys, he’d have had an even bigger following, from both the red side as well as the blue side. Its about time that we, as Americans, get over this notion that we have to label ourselves as Republicans or Democrats, or anything at all. We’re Americans, first and foremost. Vote for the candidate who is best for the country, not the guy waving the same flag as you.

We’re a country, not a gang . . .

But no matter where you stand on the political spectrum or the issue of polarization in America, GO VOTE! Get out there and show your support for whoever you choose. Its your right to do so, so go do so.

** UPDATE – 11/6/2013 **

As I predicted, The Cooch lost. The blue guy won. I was also correct in my other prediction, that people would blame Sarvis. He received 7% of the vote which was more than enough to have elected Cuccinelli had they ALL voted for him. Have a look at some of the comments I found in just one article about the election:

“The only reason Cuccinelli lost was because software billionaire Joe Liemandt, who just happens to be a top bundler for President Barack Obama, helped pay for professional petition circulators responsible for getting Virginia Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Robert C. Sarvis on the ballot.” – Yiddishlion

“Proof positive that an independent vote in a regular election is a wasted vote.” – Armand

“What I learned is that the Dems will support party to the death while Republicans would gladly see the demise of their party in order to jump ship and vote for a Libertarian. Cucinelli got Perot’d” – Al

“McAulife barely won only because the Dems paid for and ran a libertarian candidate that took 7% away from Cuccinelli. What it shows me is that the Tea Party remains strong and will do very well in 2014.” – NickV

“Once again a third party candidate with an ego too big for the room refuses to step aside in the last two weeks of an election, which allowed the candidate that he is in least agreement with win the election.” – I don’t think so

But then I found someone who seemed to feel as I do. Someone who came to the same conclusion as I did when Sarvis earned that 7%:

“What it tells us is that extreme left and right politicians WON’T be tolerated. All you elected officials need to get over your party ideology and work for US, the American people. We are bigger than just left/right, black/white, rich/poor issues.” – Eric

I don’t know what else to say. I’m only 23, so I know there are a lot of people out there who will discredit everything I say because I lack experience and that’s fine. But you can’t tell me that you like the current state of affairs in this country. You can’t tell me the system we have is working.

Then again, I guess that’s what 93% of Virginians did yesterday when they voted Red and Blue . . . so enjoy it. Enjoy the never ending back and forth bickering. Enjoy all the lies and deceit. We’ve all earned it and its here to stay.

Well we’re definitely getting hammered. When I woke this morning at 8 we had 11 inches. The snow has not slowed down at all. Unfortunately for me, when it snows, we’re open 24/7 at work until its cleared. So here I am, sitting at work with nothing to do but wait. Thought I would take this time to share some pictures from my house this morning.

We have a tree laying across our power line . . . looks bad

Looking out the window to back deck

Hard to see but its right at 11″

This is looking out into the back yard where I usually shoot

The snow is very wet and heavy; really weighs the branches down

The snow clings to every branch on the tree. No wonder so many have fallen

I wish I had my DSLR camera with me this morning. There were birds playing in the snow and I wanted to take pictures of them. Cell phone cameras can take amazing pictures, but they can’t compare to a dedicated camera with a large zoom lens. Regardless you can see the type of snow we got. Way more than we’re used to all at once.

Our street departments and electricity companies are all doing a good job though. Everyone was well prepared this time and power outages aren’t lasting long and roads are being maintained pretty well. Hopefully that continues through the rest of the storm.

I remember having a terrible time when I first decided to go to the range in West Va. Lots of people I knew had been there but nobody could give me much info about it. I remember looking online and coming up with little more than a general idea of where it was located.

So I decided to post this to hopefully help others looking to visit this range.

Directions:

From Harrisonburg, Virginia, you need to head west on U.S. Route 33. This leads you to within a little more than a mile from the range; there’s no need to worry about other roads until you cross the mountain and enter West Virginia.

When you reach the bottom of the mountain on the West Virginia side (3.4 miles from the state line) there is a road off to the right with a sign indicating there is a shooting range. This is FDR 151. There is a very tiny sign that says “151” but don’t be looking for that. The range sign is much larger and easier to see. Take this turn and continue for just over one mile. During that mile there is only one more turn you make (a slight turn to the right) and its clearly marked and easy to see.

Be prepared for a long slow ride. That one mile takes me about 6 or 7 minutes. It’s a one lane gravel/dirt road all the way and its full of holes and ruts. After a lot of rain, there’s plenty of mud as well. If you have a small car like me, keep this stuff in mind. FDR 151 is also completely surrounded by trees. Its entirely possible that after a storm (or even moderate winds) trees could be down in the way.

Once you make it through all those perils however, you’re there.

Set Up:

There are two seperate ranges, one for pistols and one for rifles. Both have their own parking areas but they’re close enough that walking between them is no issue at all. There is a bathroom near the rifle range’s parking but it has no running water. If you intend to wash your hands after shooting (or using the bathroom for that matter) plan to bring your own water.

The rifle range is set up with 7 or 8 benches in a shelter that is covered by a roof. There are large cans at both end of the shelter for disposing of trash. Please take advantage of this because this is a free range after all and not frequently maintained. The pistol range does not have any shelter but if its raining you probably aren’t going to be shooting anyway.

The rifle range is marked out to 25, 50, and 100 yards. They don’t have the numbers posted but there is a hill behind each set of targets and it’s easy to tell where each is. Each distance has metal posts with string tied between them for hanging your targets as well. You should always bring some extra string however; if the string is broken, there is no replacement. On the left side of the range there is a gravel path that leads all the way to the 100 yard mark.

Rules:

There is a board posted at the rifle range that lists all the rules. Most are common sense and basic safety things but I wanted to share a few that you might not consider.

1) They do not allow shotguns. Many people use shotguns there but its clearly posted that they are not allowed so to be safe just leave the shotgun at home.
2) No clay shooting. I assume this has to do with the broken pieces that end up all over the range. It makes a mess and even the biodegradable stuff takes time to disappear.
3) No shooting bottles, electronics, glass, or basically any target that isn’t made of paper or cardboard. There is glass and plastic everywhere from people who don’t follow this rule and its very disrespectful and dangerous.

And always do your best to clean up when you leave. I pick up all my brass (or steel in my case) and throw away all the targets I don’t keep. In addition I always pick up some trash that others before me have left. Its a free range and I try to leave it at least a little cleaner than when I arrived. If you don’t want to help clean up at least leave a donation (not that you can’t do both) in the locked drop box across from the rule board. Its a big cylinder looking thing. Someone has to maintain the area and if it becomes too expensive they could start charging a fee or just close it all together.

Looking out toward targets

There are 7 or 8 benches

Looking from the benches to the parking/entrance

** There will be an ammo update this evening between 6pm and 8pm so check back! **

I came across an article that discussed one reason why a higher percentage of police chiefs are in favor of “gun control” while a lower percentage of sheriffs are. I had never given it much thought until I read the article.

I always thought it was just a rural vs city kind of thing but it seems like its more than that. The article explains that sheriffs are elected and more likely to defend the rights of their county’s residents, while police chiefs answer to city counsels,mayors, governors, etc. Politics play a much larger role for them.

I’m lucky enough to live in a county where my local sheriff has said they will not enforce any federal laws that violate the Second Amendment. I don’t know about the rest of VA, but around here guns are a big thing. I don’t see gun control being popular here any time soon.

Where do your police chiefs and sheriffs stand? Let us know in the comments below.

With hunting season coming to an end in Virginia, ammunition appears to be slowly crawling back onto the shelves of the local stores. Its about time! Ammo has been kinda scarce this past month and all I could find were the really expensive brands.

Unfortunately Tula .223 is still a rare breed. Last year they couldn’t sell the stuff and this year they can’t keep it on the shelves. Lucky for me though I’ve found another local distributor whose name will remain a secret. They sell the Tula ammunition for $5.75 a box. Walmart sells it for $4.95 a box but they never have it anymore. The only place that has it on a regular basis is Dick’s Sporting Goods who charges $6.99 a box! So $5.75 is a pretty comfortable price that’s right in the middle.

Even better is that I didn’t know the place sold ammunition. They don’t advertise as having anything to do with guns so I doubt many other people do either. That means that I should always have a few boxes of Tula available locally. Good thing since I’m going shooting with a coworker this weekend. I was getting low on ammunition but stocked up today; I should be good to go.

I guess tonight and tomorrow I’ll be getting everything ready to go shooting again. Going to be a variety of weapons between the few of us going so I’ll be able to shoot a few new guns. Ill do my best to review the weapons I get to shoot. I just like to get my experiences out there for others to see so that hopefully someone will benefit from the things I learn and share.